Staying well with DIABETES

How to avoid it, how best to manage it and can you reverse it? Here's the very latest expert advice about the condition

- TANYA PEAREY

Have you recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes? Or have you been living with it for years? You're not alone. In the past 25 years, the number of people diagnosed with the condition has more than doubled in the UK, from 1.4 million to 3.5 million, and this is expected to rise to 5 million by 2025. And these figures don't include those living with prediabetes, a precursor to diabetes, which is now affecting more than one-in-three British adults.

What is it?

Our body's blood-sugar levels are controlled by a complex hormonal mix, including insulin, which is produced by the pancreas. 'When food is digested, entering the bloodstream, insulin moves glucose out of the blood and into cells, for use as energy, but in diabetes, your body can't do this correctly,' says Woman's Weekly GP Dr Gill Jenkins. 'Prediabetes is where sugar levels are above normal but not high enough to be diabetes, though there's increased risk of developing diabetes.'

Is it lifestyle related?